Chicago, Illinois, USA
Urbanworks’ Esperanza Health Center’s Brighton Park South Building is a 43,450-square-foot center expands access to vital healthcare services, including medical and behavioral health care, senior programming, and a family medicine residency program.
With its innovative L-shaped design, vibrant façade, and thoughtfully designed interiors, the facility fosters community well-being while seamlessly integrating with an existing health campus.
Recognized with the 2024 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, this new addition underscores Esperanza’s commitment to accessible, high-quality healthcare for all, regardless of income or immigration status.
The building was designed as a federally qualified health center and is part of Esperanza’s network that serves more than 50,000 patients a year across the city of Chicago, with 90 percent of its clients Latino and 50 percent on Medicaid.
The L-shaped structure defines the south and west edges of the new plaza with the older building and California Avenue providing the other limits.
The primary entrance takes visitors into a two-story “super lobby” at the northwest leg of the L.
Waiting and reception areas on both levels overlook the plaza, maintaining visual connections between patients and the community, with the smaller exam rooms and offices that require privacy located internally within the larger volume of the building.
A large activity room at the southwest corner overlooks Mansueto High School’s athletic fields to the west of the complex.
The facilities include three dozen state-of-the-art exam rooms, a medical suite and center for older adults, meeting spaces, and areas for activities such as music, arts and crafts, and yoga.
The center’s lively façade is clad in yellow and gray metal panels with a diagonal pattern that recalls the canted ends of the earlier “red building.”
Extensive floor-to-ceiling glazing provides ample natural light to the building’s primary public spaces.
Color is an important element throughout the complex. Inside, color provides identity for individual areas with bold accents in orange, teal, yellow, and plum aiding in navigation throughout the building.
Acoustical clouds in the same palette enhance the ceilings in the larger public spaces.
The plaza provides a unique opportunity that encourages fitness and wellness beyond the boundaries of the building.
Conceived as a new neighborhood center, the well-defined outdoor gathering space between the two buildings promotes and enables outdoor exercise and engagement with the Brighton Park community.
Project: Esperanza Health Center – Brighton Park South Building Architects: UrbanWorks, Ltd.
Lead Architect: Maria Pellot
Design Team: Patricia Saldana Natke, Jose Esquinca, Kari Berg, Steve Burgos, Maria Hidalgo
Client’s Project Management Consultant: McNitt Consulting
General Contractor: Mortenson Construction
Client: Esperanza Health Centers
Photographers: AJ Brown
